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DRS Technologies Receives $39 Million U.S. Army Contract for Next-Generation Thermal Weapon Sights

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Business Wirevia NewsEdge Corporation

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PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2006--DRS Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: DRS) announced today that it has received a $39 million order to produce a family of next-generation Thermal Weapon Sights (TWS II) for U.S. Army ground force applications.

DRS received the new order from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, acting on behalf of Program Executive Office Soldier. For this award, DRS will produce light, medium and heavy Thermal Weapon Sights, which will utilize the company's uncooled infrared technology. Work for this contract will be accomplished by the company's DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems - Optronics Division in Palm Bay and Melbourne, Florida, and Infrared Technologies Division in Dallas, Texas. Product design and engineering was accomplished by DRS Nytech Systems in Irvine, California, and DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems - California Division in Cypress, California. Deliveries will commence in November of this year and continue through December 2007.

This order is part of a competitively secured five-year contract awarded to DRS in March 2004. The contract has a total potential value of $375 million, including options.

"DRS is an industry leader in uncooled, high-performance, thermal imaging systems, and the TWS II is a cornerstone program for DRS in this core technology area," said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS's Surveillance & Reconnaissance Group. "Optimized to place increased lethality in the hands of individual war fighters, TWS will enhance their survivability on the open and urban battlefields. This recent order under the TWS II program will contribute immediately to the military's current and future force objectives."

Using advanced microbolometer-based infrared technology, the DRS family of light, medium and heavy TWS will provide U.S. Army soldiers and armament crews with greater range of threat detection and wider field of view at a reduced cost. Providing superior image quality, greater battery life and a user-friendly menu structure, these sights will better equip war fighters to see the battlefield under vision-obscured conditions and engage the enemy.